Soccer Headline

Sunday October 23, 2011LSU Defeats No. 13 Gator Soccer 1-0

LSU
(12-6-1, 7-3 SEC) gave the No. 13 Florida soccer team (14-5, 7-3 SEC) its first
league loss since 2006, using a long goal to take the 1-0 win Sunday afternoon in
front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,789. It was only the fourth loss
in Southeastern Conference home play in the 17-year history for the Gators,
with the last coming against Tennessee in 2006 and it was the first loss to LSU
in the 15 all-time meetings.

The
loss puts the Gators in a must-win situation for next Friday’s regular-season finale
versus South Carolina. After Sunday’s results, South Carolina sits atop the SEC
standings with an 8-2 record and is guaranteed at least a share of the 2011
league title. Florida and LSU share second with 7-3 records. A win or tie next
Friday at Pressly Stadium by South Carolina would give the Gamecocks its first
league title while Florida needs a win to move into a tie with USC. LSU meets
Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., next Friday and also needs a win combined with
a Florida win to claim a share of the 2011 SEC title.

Sunday’s Scores from SEC Action

Home

Away

Florida 0

LSU
1

South
Carolina 3

Arkansas
1

Georgia
2

Alabama
2 OT

Vanderbilt 1

Mississippi State 2

Kentucky 1

Mississippi 2 OT

Tennessee
2

Auburn
0

For
the third match in a row, the Gator found themselves trailing after allowing a
first-half goal. The ball LSU goalkeeper Mo Isom put in play from the LSU box
ended up just over midfield. Senior Natalie Martineau gained control and sent
the ball right, catching fellow senior Taryne Boudreau in stride. She took a
touch and launched a 30-yard shot which scored in the middle of the goal in the
33rd minute.

Perhaps
the Gators best looks at the goal came in the first half. Senior outside back Jazmyne
Avant beat her defender and took the ball end line. Fellow senior Lindsay
Thompson’s shot off the cross was wide of the far post in the ninth minute.
Florida’s other outside back, freshman Tessa Andujar, used the space and
time allowed by the defense in the 23rd minute to get a better
angle, but there weren’t any Gators able to make a play on the cross she sent
to the far post. In the 29th minute, senior Sarah Chapman saw
an opportunity from the corner of the box when Isom was off her line, but her
chip attempt was just high. Junior McKenzie Barney tried to take
advantage on a bad clearance by the Tigers deep in their box at 34:18, but her
header shot was high.

2011 SEC Standings – Through Oct. 23

Eastern Division

SEC

Pts.

ALL

Pct.

South Carolina

8-2-0

24.0

14-5

.737

Florida

7-3-0

21.0

14-5

.737

Georgia

6-2-2

20.0

12-4-2

.722

Tennessee

6-4-0

18.0

13-5

.722

Kentucky

5-5-0

15.0

12-6

.667

Vanderbilt

2-8-0

6.0

8-10

.444

Western Division

LSU

7-3-0

21.0

12-6-1

.658

Auburn

5-4-1

16.0

11-5-2

.667

Alabama

3-5-2

11.0

8-7-3

.528

Mississippi State

3-6-1

10.0

6-9-3

.417

Mississippi

3-7-0

9.0

7-10-1

.417

Arkansas

2-8-0

6.0

4-13-0

.235

SEC Title Scenarios

USC

Guaranteed
at least a share of title

Outright win

Win
or tie at Florida

Share title

Loss
at Florida

Florida

Win
versus USC

LSU

Win
at Arkansas and loss by USC

Teams
receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie

The
rhythm that Florida played with in the opening half seem to be disrupted in the
second half when LSU put more numbers behind the ball to preserve its lead.

“I
thought the first half was absolutely great soccer – probably the best we’ve
played all year. We really moved the ball well but did not have good final
passes in terms of the cross inside the six and things like that. It was
disappointing to not be ahead, and then we gave up a long goal,” UF Head Coach Becky
Burleigh said. “Ultimately we still had plenty of time to recover from
that, but in the second half we never regained our rhythm.

“In
the second half, we never played in our rhythm,” she continued. “We were too
individual-oriented. We were trying to get something great to happen instead of
using the strength of our unit, which is the team.”

In
the second half, the Gators had a pair of good looks in a two-minute span.
Junior Erika Tymrak brought the ball into the top of the box, but her
shot was wide of the far post in the 54th minute. Shortly after, Thompson was
deep in the Tiger box, but her shot was blocked out for a Gator corner kick. In
the final minutes, Avant was again deep in Tiger territory. Her cross across
the goal just missed the head of Kathryn Williamson.

The
loss has this week’s practice agenda set in Tymrak’s mind.

“We
are going to have to work on finishing one ball after another. A lot of teams
pack the box which makes it hard to score, so at practice we’re going to have
to pack the box and play how other teams play. We have to work on that. It’s
like a puzzle – we have to solve it,” Tymrak said. “Even though it’s a
disappointing loss today, I have 100 percent faith in my team and I know we can
do it.”

The regular-season finale with so much on the
line versus SEC-leading South Carolina is set for Friday, Oct. 28. Match time
is set for 7 p.m. at the James G. Pressly
Stadium
and admission is free. Friday’s match airs live on FS-Florida (Gainesville/Ocala
Cox Cable channel 70 or 1070) with announcers Mick Hubert and Matthew
Stubbington. The match can also be heard on www.GatorZone.com with Adam Schick calling
the action.